St. Louis Reception in SW Illinois

I've attached the TV Fool report for my exact coordinates (my ZIP is 62215) with an antenna height of 25 feet. Here's what I want:

1) Roof mounted antenna on my single story home.
2) The St. Louis stations located from 255-273 degrees.
3) I'd like to have WSIU Ch. 8.
4) I want to view these on my two main TVs. The longest cable run should be 60-70 feet at most.

I would have gone with a CM 4228 (the old, superior version) if those were available. Instead, I'm thinking something like an Antennas Direct DB4 should do the trick, but it won't get Ch8. Does anyone have any suggestions to get both the STL stations AND channel 8 in a single antenna setup?

Welcome to the forums! Very thorough first post, thanks!

To receive the channels that you want you'll need either a single antenna (Winegard 7696) with a rotor or two antennas (Channel master 4221 and a Y5-7-13). IMO, the two antenna solution is the better option. Aim the y5-7-13 at 148 degrees and aim the channel master at 265 degrees. Use a uvsj to join the vhf and uhf signals into a single downlead. If you use a pre-amp, I would recommend the Winegard HDP269. Try it without the pre-amp first.

http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?p=Y5-7-13
http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?mc=03&p=4221-HD&d=Channel-Master-4221HD-4bay-HDTVUHF-Antenna&c=TV%20Antennas&sku=020572030168
http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?mc=03&p=UVSJ&d=Pico-Macom-UVSJ-UHF-VHF-Band-SeparatorCombiner-for-Antenna-(UVSJ)&c=Signal%20Combiners&sku=UVSJ
http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?mc=03&p=ANWHDP269&d=Winegard-HDP-269-SquareShooter-PreAmplifier-for-SquareShooter-SS1000-(HDP269)&c=Pre-Amplifiers&sku=615798396145


HTH,

Rick

Welcome to the forums! Very thorough first post, thanks!

To receive the channels that you want you'll need either a single antenna (Winegard 7696) with a rotor or two antennas (Channel master 4221 and a Y5-7-13). IMO, the two antenna solution is the better option. Aim the y5-7-13 at 148 degrees and aim the channel master at 265 degrees. Use a uvsj to join the vhf and uhf signals into a single downlead. If you use a pre-amp, I would recommend the Winegard HDP269. Try it without the pre-amp first.

http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?p=Y5-7-13
http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?mc=03&p=4221-HD&d=Channel-Master-4221HD-4bay-HDTVUHF-Antenna&c=TV%20Antennas&sku=020572030168
http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?mc=03&p=UVSJ&d=Pico-Macom-UVSJ-UHF-VHF-Band-SeparatorCombiner-for-Antenna-(UVSJ)&c=Signal%20Combiners&sku=UVSJ
http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?mc=03&p=ANWHDP269&d=Winegard-HDP-269-SquareShooter-PreAmplifier-for-SquareShooter-SS1000-(HDP269)&c=Pre-Amplifiers&sku=615798396145


HTH,

Rick

Thanks! I figured that with Ch8 being VHF AND in a far different direction than STL I would probably need a rotor or a two antenna solution. I was trying to avoid both but it doesn't look like that's possible. I might just go with a 4221 pointed at 265 for now and live without WSIU. Later, I might look into a single or multiple antenna solution to try for the stations to the south and southeast, including WSIU. Probably, though, I'll go with the two antenna solution you mentioned.

Admittedly, multiple antennas are not my forte, but our OP has a mixed bag of UHF and VHF channels coming at him from two radically different directions. So, it follows that either a antenna rotar or a multiple antenna set up will be required to get both. But I have a question regarding the later choice.

I can certainly see something like a good combination VHF/UHF antenna like a 7696 P pointed at St Louis being a good choice for St. Louis stations , but I fail to see why a fairly low gain VHF only antenna would be a good choice for all those the Southeast quadrant stations. After all, there is a mixed bag of both UHF and VHF channels there also, granted the y5-7-13 would pick up WSIU cheap but that is about it. So why not use another good combo VHF/UHF antenna with better gain like a 7694 aimed South east instead and get more channels?

The other thing to point out is that when the St Louis Channels are basically close to due West, and when WSIU is a full 120 degrees or so off that aim, we know that one fixed aim antenna can't get its best gain on both. But antenna gain loss patterns still operate over the full 360 degrees of antenna aim and vary from channel to channel. It is just possible that an aim can be found that does very well for St Louis Stations and still hits a strong side node gain pattern and thus picks up WSIU in addition. And with WSIO coming in at a fairly strong 32 NM(dB), I would not be surprised to see something like a 7696P accomplish that with some trial and error aiming. Sadly in my case the same effect burned me, pre the 6/12/09 digital transition allowed me to get a fairly weak station well off my fixed antenna aim. But post 6/12/09, the channel assignment changed from real channel 52 and moved down to real channel 23. And what was a strong gain node for channel 52 must have turned into a very strong loss node for channel 23. And thus I no longer get that channel.

Hello NMT,

The OP stated which channels he wanted with a single antenna. I gave solutions that would acquire his interests. If he wants UHF to the SE *and* W, then the best choice is use an XG-91 on a rotor and a fixed aim on the y5-7-13. Really depends on his particular interest.

Regards,

Rick